Electric winding mechanism for clocks and the like.



F. J. sEABoLT. n .ELECTRIC WINDING MECHANISM FOR CLOCKS ANDfTHE LIKE.

APPucmoNflLfp nun/2o, |912. ynnswao AuG.'6. 191s. f

Patented Apr. 25,1916.

`als

.Tn i' srn'rns rerum? vonirica.

FRANK J. snaicom, oa'scHnNncTAnY, NEW Yonm nien-ma.,

ennesimo wmzomo MECHANISM ron cLocKsANn'mn Linn y Patented apr.' e5, loro.

'appucation med Mayan; 1912; serial No. 698,365. Renewed August e, 1915. `seriaruo. 44,117.

Mechanism for Clocks and the like, of which the following is a specification;

This invention relates to means tor autoinatlcally winding sprlng motor mechanisms,

such asclock mechanisms andthe like, and Ahas for its obyect theprovision of means of this character whereby an electric motor will Abe periodically utilized to effect the winding of ak plurality of such mechanisms in a reliable, simple and eiiicient manner.

One of the objects of my invention is'to,

provide means whereby two spring motor mechamsmsedas, for instance, a time mechanism anda strike mechanism of the clock,

may both be Wound" automatically by a singleelectric motor. c

In previous patent issued to George H.v Rupley, No. 832,747, there is described and claimed electric 4clock winding mechanism which may be connectedwith an ordinary.

lghtingor power circuit and be wound and rewound at stated intervals. Among the features of the invention covered by said,-

patent is the provision of means whereby in case the power slfiould` failv or become `un,- available for any reason when it becomes time for the mechanism to be wound the clock `will continue to `run 'for a 'definite periodwith the motor circuit closed so that' Vwhen the power returns the clockspring will be immediately'woundup toits original tension. In more recent Rupley Patents, Nos.' 897,019 and 897,020, there is described and claimed more simplemeans for accomplishing substantially the same results. i In said vlatter patents the controlling arrangement vfor the motor consist-s of two coperatingI elements constituting switch mechanism, one

` circuit will be vclosed to start the motor and my inventlon 1n concrete form, Figure 1 is .a

element being driyen by the motor in winding the spring while the other is driven yby -thc spring as lit runs down. These copern ating elements open and close the motor .cire cnit,the arrangement being such thatwhen the spring runs down a certain amount the `when the motor has wound the spring toits original tension the circuit is opened. .In

.case the power lis oli when the circuit is operated and the tension returned to the` spring. In Case the power does not come on after acertain interval the spring mecha. msm is positively stopped.

`Incarrying out my present invention I Iemploye single motor to wind two mechanisms, the connection being` such that when the motor rotatesinone'direction it ener- L" gizes one vmechanism and ratchets or slips over the other, while when the motor is energized to rotate `in the opposite direction 1t will wind the other mechanism and ratchet or slip on the first one. The type of control arrangement for these two motors is kpreferably of the same generall character as that' disclosed in said Patent No. 897,020, above referred to, although'it is'obvions thatmy invention is in no sense limitedpto any par- .ticular circuit controlling arrangement. ln y an arrangement of this4 character it may happen that both controlling mechanisms will be in closedpositionatthe same time,y

as, for-instance, if the circuit should be closed at onecontroller and the powerbe-` ing off the other motor will continue toopvcrate until the circuit closes on this kcontroller also. fIn order to overcome this diililculty I have soarranged the controllers that I thecircuit for onev direction of rotation is closed through the other` controller so that up 'as soon'asQone circuit closes it openstheothery circuit. In the case ofthe clock mechanism,

for instance, the arrangement maybe such thatfthe timemechanism `will be given the profiel-ence, that is, whenever the time mechanism is being wound, the circuit for the winding ofthe striking rmechanism would be opened and will not be closed until the winding of the time mechanism is` completed. ,ln this `way the two mechanisms twill be wound 'with a single motor while' both mechanisms have positive .driving conneclions with the motor, thereby obvating the necessity of disconnecting onefmechanismwhile the other is'being wound.

Other yobjects and purposes of my inven-,ly

tion will appear in the course of the following 'specification'in which lhave shown my invention embodied in concrete form for purposes of illustration.

In the accompanying drawing illustrating diagrammatic representation of. the `motor l circuits and the controlling devices thereof,

eol

looy 2 lio one of the controllers: Fig. l is a section through the other controller; Figs. 5 and show a detail` ot' the ratchet connection.

Referring first to Fig. 2, M represents an electric motor for winding the two springr mechanism l() and 11. One ot" these mechanisms, as, for instance, lll. may he the clock or any other springl motor mechanism. while 11 may he the striking mechanism. lt is obvious, however, that the particular purpose for which these spring uuchauisnis are used is not an essential feature oi my invention, although the arrangement is particularly useful in a clock in whiclrthe striking mechanism is employed. It is also obvious that these mechanisms are not nec- ,essariliY spring operated and when l refer a spring 1:?, one end of which is secured to I the drum while the other end is secured to the shaft 13 in the usual way. When the slihft-ll is rotated in the proper direction, the spring will he wound up and the drum `will thereupon drive whatever may he con- ,nected with 1t, as for instance, through the ,dear Ll. The shaft lo is geared down to thc motor through rearing 15 to the pinion 16 on the niotor sha-Ft. This pinion has a ratchet connection with the motor shaft as shown in Figs. 5 and 6. Any suitable connection of this sort may be employed, hut for purposes ol" illustration vI have shown a ratch t wheel 'l i' on the motor shaft, cooperating .ritlr pica-l 18 pivoted on the inside of a druinll) secured to the pinion 1li. It is obvious that when the motor M rotates in the proper direction the shaft 13l will he rotated toi-wind the s ring l?, while when the motor ptates in tie opposite direction the. gearingy l5 will not he operated. (1n the opposite endz"nt the motor shaft is ay similar arrangementfor winding the sp1-inar within the drum 10 so that when the motor runs in the opposite direction, that 1s, in the direction in which the pinion 16 ratchets on the motor shaft, the spring in the drum l() will he wound.

Associated with each ot the spring mechanisms is a circuit controller, the arrangement of which will best he seen hy reference to Fig. 1. In Fig. l the controller associated with the springmechanisni l() is shown at 20, while the controller associated with the spring mechanism ll is shown at 2l. The controller 21 consists of two moving elements, one of which is a disk secured to the gear 523 so as to rotate when the spring is wound up hy the motor, while the other moving element is a spring finger or contact 2l sccurcd'to the drum il so as to rotate as the spring runs down. The disk secured to the gear :3 is provided with ya rib :25

which is eccentric with reference to its axis of rotation' and extends onli` about threequarters of the wz around. The finger :E-l engages this rih 25 which is of insulatingr material and as the finger and rilrrotate with reference to cach other the springcontact .24 will he placed undertension. This will he clearly seen by reference to Fig. l. Suppose that the spring is ruiming' down and therefore that the contact 2l is rotating in the direction of the arrow u. The contact is pressing against the rih with a pressure. which is incrcasiuggr due to the ecccntricity of the rih. ll'hcu the end of the rih is rcach'cd the contact will snap over to the position shown in dotted lines. This will close the motor circuit provided the circuit is not opened at the controller ".20 as` hereinafter explained, since it A'will he ohserved that there is a ring` of comlucting metal surrounding the rih 2i white ilu le of the rih is an insulating surface flush with the conducting ring. Assuming, therefore, that the motor circuit is closed and that there is a suppl)v of current, the Irear 23 will he driven in the direction o" the arrow b carrying with it thc rib It will he understood; of course, that the contact travels 'very slowly around the inside ol`y the rib since the spring runs down slowly. For instance, it may take twenty four hours or more, depending upon the gearing, etc., for the contact to travel the length of the ril). 0n the other hand, when the motor is energized the gear 23 and the contact ring;r Q6 secured thereto 'will rotate rapidly. In some cases it will. rotate at a rate which will carry the entire rih past the Contact in `live seconds or even less, de-

pending upon the gearing, speed of motor,

etc. During this winding movement the contact Q-L is to all intents and purposes standing still. The "contact 24 will therefore he again placed under` tension by the rih. lWhen the end of therb is reached the contact will spring inward onto the insulating surface and stop the motor. This operation will repeat itself continuously, the contact sliding on the inside of the rib ,as the spring runs down and on the outside of the rib as the motor winds the spring. lf when the contact 24 is in engagement with the conducting ring 2G current should fail for any cause, the Contact will travel onward until the current does come on when the motor will wind up as before, it being noticed that the motor always winds up to the same point4 regardless of how, much the sprint,I has run clown. ln case the current should be ol for a very longr time the contact will engage the stop 2l which will loch the members together and stop the running down of the mechanism.

The operation above described is substantially the same as that disclosed in pat- -20` snaps;V outside offthegribiit `comes.gi'itogcon tact with the conductingrngtil t which "s 'y f 25 `Referring to Figfl, itw'l *so tion and when they oth "wiridingj Itfcoxieets of af rin-gofflfn`ietaf haL ng v groovel29 at its periphei'ygahd hai ng4 rshoulderr t ,reeeive thejinsiiliting, Q tside of the insulating,rihgisiI conclue 31 liaving'efitsfsiirfce flush ece4 With this eiigement whifl" the'fspringin the drum 10 siufnni'ngr o;

thelcontaot32 ismovinu 'K n n theribBO in 4engageriieiit;with enducti suracelQS with kwhichother brushf electricallcontact. `VVhfenv ythe cont tin in electrical Contact,zwith'fbrushg3, Wise; i the operation. yof controller 2 y, l [salme as that of controller. 'i 1 @ther electric` motor 3 M halvin'g f istprovided with tWQjeId winding l Ff.- yWhen one of these'y eldnvinding ergi'zed the motor Willrai'otate ienronev f gized the motor willfiiojtatein/the ppo "sitedirectionr The ycinitecti 32 isoxinectfe to one side of they line Whileo'ne terminale the motorarmaturesfconiiectedtoth `othe SI5` side 'of the line. One'fffeldLA Win'dingFr o :the motor is connected'with; thebnush' which slides in th'el-grove ,ffonftl'con diuctin'. ring 26 of thegcontroller 2L! j'llli'ev` 'other leid' F is conneotedywith thefbiiiish 40 The contactQi` of Athe'',controllen,21 isielecy trically f connected withr ther loushy 331' of t the controller 20. `lilleetricalcmnnection ifsjmalef" ytothe contacts 24 andgiQfthroiigh bfushesg" (not shown) Hiding in grooves.r 36 rfennel", 37 j respectively. f f n e It will be observed that*the-energization:f1` Qflooth the field windingsfF hind/j][1"de-t` V pende 1 primarilygupoii ,z order that 'the field F"- sition in* --which the fiel engigized. .,ffIn other wiwtli'ng F iig energized, i nutfbe energized even` th dl they other) inletalimiism'ivyliek e opposite difeetiom and' ci l y '"djwithf:y

he the",ffoiV eoiit ,the foppositedi IMDA 3. The combination with two power storing mechanisms, of means for winding the saine comprising a reversible electric motor, circuit controlling means associated with euch of said mechanisms one `for closing a si. r)The combination with two power Storing mechanisms, of means for Winding the sinne comprising an electric motor having two field coils one for each direction of rota-` tion of the motor driving connections wherebythcjmotor winds one mechanism when it rotates jin one direction and the other mechanismwhen it rotates in the opposite. direction, and circuit controlling means associated with each mechanism for controllingI the circuit through the field coil which drives the motor in a direction' to wind said mechanism.`

5. The combination with two 'power storing mechanisms, of means for Winding the same comprising an electric motor having two field coils one for each direction of rotation of the motor, driving connections whereby the motor winds one mechanism when it rotates in one direction and the other mechanism when it rotates in the opposits direction, a switching device associated with each mechanism for controlling the circuit through the field coil which drives the motor in the direction to wind said mechanism, and connectlons whereby the closing of the circuit of one of said field coils interrupts the circuit of the other field.

coil.` 4

6. The combination with two power storing mechanisms, of means for "winding the" i controlling means. i

In witness whereof, I khave `hereunto set my hand this 17 th day offMey, 1912.

i FRANKJ. SEABOLT. Witnesses:

HELEN Onrono, BENJAMIN B. HULL. 

